Sandwich Harbour

Sandwich Harbour
Sandvishawe ( Afrikaans)
Sandwich Harbour Location in Namibia
Coordinates	23°22′S 14°29′E / 23.367°S 14.483°E / -23.367; 14.483
Ocean/sea sources	Atlantic Ocean
Basin countries	Namibia
Max. length	4.2 km (2.6 mi)
Max. width	4 km (2.5 mi)
Ramsar Wetland
Designated	23 August 1995
Reference no.	743[1]

Sandwich Harbour (

, but it is now best known for its birdlife in the lagoon to the south of the bay.

Geography

Located about 80 km south of Walvis Bay, the area is within the Erongo Region. The bay opens to the north and is about 4.2 km long and 4 km wide. There is a shallow lagoon lying south of the bay, separated from it by an area of beach ridges and swales with saltpans.

The lagoon is 3.7 km in length and 1 km wide and is enveloped by sandy desert on its eastern side.^[4] Former visitors to the area assumed that the water in the lagoon was fresh, but a recent survey found out that the lagoon is filled with poor quality brackish water that seeps under the dunes and allows the growth of large reed beds at the water's edge.^{[citation needed]}

Sandwich Harbour was declared a Ramsar Site on 23 August 1995.

History

The area was surveyed in the 1880s by the

).

In the 1930s, an ambitious project was started to build a

could cross to the island at low tide and chase the birds away. All that remains of the project is the manager's house.

Currently, the bay and lagoon are within the

Gallery

• 
  The Sandwich Harbour seen from atop a sand dune
• 
  The Namibian desert's edge at Sandwich Harbour
• 
  The road leading to Sandwich Harbour
• 
  Remains of the guanu factory
• 
  Aerial view of the Sandwich Harbour

See also

• Walvis Bay

References

External links

• Media related to Sandwich Harbour at Wikimedia Commons
• First confirmed record of Lithognathus lithognathus sympatric with L. aureti

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